You made it better
by brittanamylove
Summary: "I have cancer" You say like it's the most normal thing in the world. "I have cancer too" She says and your eyes widen. What? You suddenly feel a surge of anger because someone beautiful and nice as Santana has to suffer because of cancer. You have never felt like this before.


You slowly blink open your eyes. You feel groggy.

"Honey?"

You recognize your voice of your mother's. You smile weakly at her and you feel your heart clench at the sight to know she had been crying.

"Mom" You say, but you realize your tone was not audible. You try again. "Mom"

You see your mother smile at you. "I'm here"

"Where's Dad?" You ask, searching the room and you don't see him anywhere. You try to reach for your mother's hands and you wince when the tubes on your hand makes it impossible to move. Your mother sees you struggling and she saves you all the work by slowly taking your hand in hers.

"He is talking to Dr. Stevens" Your mother replies and you nod.

"What time is it?" You ask, wanting to make conversation. You could see how your mother is trying her best not to cry. You want to distract her and truth be told, you want to distract yourself.

"Its half past two, honey" Your mother answers and you nod again. You try to move your head and you wince horribly again. Seems like, moving even an inch seems to be a bad idea. You let out a groan and you immediately regret it when you see your mother's face etched in worry.

You give her a smile conveying her everything is okay. It was a feeble attempt; you know that she doesn't believe you. Or maybe she doesn't. Either way, she doesn't get up from her seat. Maybe she doesn't want you to worry. You can never understand.

You watch the ceiling, memorizing the pattern that you have memorized a thousand times. You want to talk about the thing, but judging by your mother's expression and your father's absence, you can tell it failed. You see your mother fidgeting in her chair; you can tell she is waiting for you to ask. You let out a sigh. You better ask her.

"Mom did it-"You clear your throat and your mother snaps her attention back at you. "Did it work?" You ask and regret it immediately. Tears stream down her face and if you could get up, you would have consoled your mom. You curse yourself inwardly. You hate this.

"No, honey" She manages out in a sob and you nod again. Seems like the only thing you could do. The doctor did say that we could only try. You stopped getting your hopes up after your first attempt. You raise your hand feebly, trying not to show the pain. You have been practicing that and you are getting better at hiding it.

"Mom, it's okay" You say and you hear her cry even more. You could feel tears forming in your eyes. No matter what, you cannot stand to see your mother cry. The door opens and you see your dad and Dr. Stevens enter. Your heart clenches again, seeing your father's dejected face. Dr. Stevens gives you a smile and you smile feebly back.

Doctors smile at you, whatever the situation maybe. Hospital policy or something, you never understood that.

"How are you feeling, Brittany?" He asks and you try to make a joke out of the situation.

"I have been better" You say, and Dr. Stevens smiles at you again and this time you know it's not because of the hospital policy. You look at your dad and he rolls his eyes, while dropping a kiss on your forehead. You watch him sit next to Mom, putting an arm over her shoulder. Your mom stops crying and you wish this didn't happen never more than now.

"I'm sorry Brittany but-"The doctor starts and you stop him mid-sentence. You don't care if you're rude. You are dying. You are allowed to be angry and rude.

"I know doc. I understand" You say and you see him sigh.

"Brittany, I have talked to your dad about the treatment options and he told me he wants the best for you. I'll leave you to talk and you can tell me when you decide" He says and after discussing a few more details, he leaves the room. You sigh. You had made your decision long before you had this surgery.

"Mom, Dad…" You start and your mother's jaw visibly clenches. She knows where you're going with this.

"No, Brittany." She says firmly and you look at your dad who looks torn between his daughter and his wife.

"Mom, please. You know this is a waste of time" You say and you wish you could take it back, when tears spill from your mother's eyes, but you don't.

"Susan, honey" Your dad whispers and your mom mumbles something about getting water and she leaves the room.

"Your mom doesn't want to give up" Your dad says. You don't want to either, but that's all the option there is left. Sure, you can continue chemo and all that crap, but in the end you know it'll never work. Three years of suffering with leukemia has taught you that.

"I love you dad" You say quietly. You don't want it to sound like a goodbye, but it does. He holds your hand and you can see him trying not to cry. Your dad is a strong person. You have never seen him cry. You don't want to see him cry again.

"I love you too, butterfly" He says and you smile at his nickname. He hasn't called you that in such a long time. He drops another kiss to your forehead. He stays by your side, holding your hand and you feel your throat constrict. You tell him you want to sleep for some time and he calls in the nurse. She gives you the drugs and you immediately fall asleep.

Being sixteen and suffering from cancer wasn't anything that anyone would sign up for her. You try not to think about your mother's sob or your father's worried face and you are thankful for the drugs because it puts you to sleep instantly.

x-x

Two days later after the failed surgery, you tell your parents that you want to go for a walk. Your body is weak, you can barely stand but you are sick of the hospital bed. The doctor tells you that you can take a walk around the hospital floor, which is fairly big and you gladly accept that.

You tell your parents you want to be alone and at first your mom protests, but finally she gives in. A nurse, whom you vaguely remember from your previous treatments, accompanies you and you feel awkward. It's just a precaution in case anything happens. The oxygen tube is under your nose, helping you breathe better.

You feel tired after a few minutes and you tell the nurse you want to sit down. You sit down a bench and that's when you saw her. You could feel your heart beat faster. You could feel your palms getting sweaty. Your cheeks feel hot and for the first time you know this is not because of your body condition.

You look at her- the girl sitting across the hall from you, playing with a little boy. She looked closer to your age. You take in a deep breath when you admire her features- she had wavy black hair and you smiled when you saw her smile. You saw a dimple pop out and you swore in that moment she was the most beautiful girl you had ever seen.

A boy with a Mohawk sat on the seat next to her and you frowned. The nurse beside you asked if you were okay and you nodded without paying proper attention to her. Your attention was fully on the girl and the Mohawk boy was sitting too close to her and you didn't like it. You notice her laugh and even though you can't hear it properly, you can tell it's beautiful- just like the girl.

It hits you why a beautiful girl like her must be in the hospital. She looked thin and she was probably ill, but there was color in her cheeks. You continue to stare at her and you frown when someone taps on your shoulder, taking your attention from the girl. You smile again when you see a small boy; he must be of age five or six, looking questioningly at you.

"Are you sick, too?" were the first words that flew from the kid's mouth and you blink in surprise.

"Yes I am. But I will get better soon" You say to the kid and he nods.

"I'm Jake. What's your name?" He extends his hand and you can't help but smile at the kid. He is too adorable.

"Brittany" you say and you shake hands with him.

Jake was about to ask you something, but he stopped when he saw someone else call his name.

"Jake!" You hear the voice and your eyes snap up to the girl- the girl whom you had been staring at moments ago. Just like her, her voice is beautiful too. You frown lightly when you the Mohawk boy's arm around her shoulders.

"Where have you been? Mom is going to kill me when she knows I have been letting you wander out of my sight" She mumbles and you can't help but stare at her. She is so beautiful.

"San, I was talking to Brittany here. She is sick too" He says so innocently and you smile at him.

"C'mere kiddo" The Mohawk boy says and Jake obligingly walks to him. The girl turns to look at you and you feel your breath hitch in your throat. You notice that she has chocolate brown eyes and it matches her skin tone.

"I'm sorry, he is not always like that. He is really shy." She says and you shrug. There is still pain, but you ignore it. Instead, you choose to admire the girl.

"It's okay. He is adorable" You offer a smile and you can see a faint blush on her cheeks. You would think it wouldn't appear on her skin tone, but it does. You don't know why she is blushing; it makes her look even more beautiful.

"Are you hungry? I'm going to get chocolate from the vending machine. You wanna come?" The Mohawk boy asks Jake and he nods enthusiastically. It reminds you of Ashley- your little sister.

"Chocolate!" Jake squeals and he tugs at the Mohawk boy's hand, whom you think is Puck (what a weird name). The girl frowns at Puck and he shrugs.

"Don't get him more than one" She says sternly and she crosses her arms. He looks a bit frightened and you would be too, if you weren't enthralled by her beauty. Her stare is intimidating and Puck nods.

"Alright kiddo, we got our highness' permission. Let's go" He says and Santana rolls her eyes. You wonder whether they are together. They are so natural in their antics and it amuses you. You watch their interaction without saying much.

"Bye Brittany" Jake says and you give him a small wave.

"Bye" You say and you raise your eyebrows in question when you see the girl standing limp by your side. Why isn't she going with them? Your heart beats faster when she sits on the seat next to you.

"Mind if I sit here? I get tired when I stand for a long time" She asks and you shake your head. Normally, you don't speak much out of choice but this time, it's because your mind can't seem to form any words.

"I don't mind" you say and it comes out like a whisper. "I don't mind" You say again more audibly and she laughs like you have told the biggest joke. You smile hearing that sound. It was the most beautiful laugh you have ever heard.

"I'm Santana" She says and you smile. Santana. You like it.

"Brittany" You say and she nods knowingly.

"I know" She smiles at you again and you could feel the blood rush to your cheeks. You look away when you feel her gaze on you.

"Why are you here?" She blurts out and you blink, surprised at her question. You look down at your attire- you're in the hospital gown and there is an oxygen tube on your face. You want to say it's because you're sick, duh. But you don't because that's rude and you don't want to be rude to Santana.

"Shit, I'm sorry I mean you're sick, obviously that's why you are here. I didn't mean to ask it that way- I was just curious- you don't have to answer it, I'm sorry-"

"Santana. It's okay." You stop her rambling. She looks so cute when she is flustered.

"Sorry" She says again meekly and you grin at her, telling her that it's okay. Her face immediately brightens up.

"I have cancer" You say like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh" She says. You try to read her face but it remains emotionless. "I'm sorry" She says and you shrug. You don't want anyone to be sorry.

"What type of cancer?" She blurts out her question again and you stare at her for a moment before answering.

"Leukemia" You say and she nods thoughtfully. "What did Jake mean when he asked me if I was sick too?" You ask her and she seems to snap out of a serious thought. You just thought about Jake's question.

"Oh, well, I'm the only other sick person he knows. I have cancer too" She says and your eyes widen. What? You suddenly feel a surge of anger because someone beautiful and nice as Santana has to suffer because of cancer. You have never felt like this before.

"I'm sorry" You repeat her words and she repeats your action-she shrugs.

"I better go." She says and you nod. You don't want her to leave. But you can't say that. That would be creepy.

"Okay" You say and she smiles at you. With a wave, she leaves and you watch her go. You continue to smile at her. Santana. You have never had friends before. You don't talk to anyone and that was before you had cancer. But something about Santana makes you want to talk. To smile. To laugh. You want to see her again.

You grin when you see her stop suddenly in her steps.

"Will I see you again?" She asks and your grin gets wider.

"I think so. It's not like I'm going anywhere, so…" You say and she laughs. It makes you happy that you are the one who made her laugh like that.

"Bye Brittany" She says and you offer her a wave. With one last smile, she disappears down the hall.

You can't wait to see her again. For the first time since you walked into the walls of this hospital, you are looking forward to something. Santana.

x-x

**Do you like it?**

**All mistakes are mine. **


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